The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Portola Pharmaceuticals permission to market a a new oral anticoagulant or “blood thinner”called betrixaban (BevyxXa®). The medication is indicated for use for the prevention of venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism in acutely ill patients who are not undergoing surgery, but are at risk for venous thromboembolism due to restricted mobility and other risk factors. These may include patients who are hospitalized for acute medical illnesses such as pneumonia, stroke, and heart failure, or who are immobile for long periods of time, are age 75 years or older, have cancer, or a history of venous thromboembolism.
According to Portola, betrixaban is the first and only anticoagulant for hospital and extended duration prophylaxis (35 to 42 days) of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adult patients hospitalized for an acute medical illness who are at risk for thromboembolic complications due to moderate or severe restricted mobility and other risk factors for VTE.
Betrixaban acts as a direct Factor Xa inhibitor. Its safety and efficacy were evaluated in the double blind, randomized, multinational APEX clinical trial among more than 7,500 patients.
Results from the APEX Study have been peer-reviewed and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation and the American Heart Journal.1
More information about betrixaban is available from:
Contact info@stoptheclot.org with questions.
1 Cohen, Alexander T., Robert A. Harrington, Samuel Z. Goldhaber, Russell D. Hull, Brian L. Wiens, Alex Gold, Adrian F. Hernandez, and C. Michael Gibson. “Extended Thromboprophylaxis with Betrixaban in Acutely Ill Medical Patients.” New England Journal of Medicine 375.6 (2016)
